Climate Change and Children: The Psychological Factors Behind How Children Perceive and Respond to Climate Change

Public Summary

Nyah Dhillon, Veronica Cui, Saebom Park, Cynthia Chung

Climate change is a global issue that burdens the children of today. Children are psychologically and emotionally vulnerable and will inevitably have to face the consequences of climate change in their future—therefore, it is vital to develop a further understanding of the factors that influence their climate change risk perception, psycho-emotional welfare, and environmental engagement.

Children’s Perception of Climate Change

Unlike adults, children are still in the process of forming their values and beliefs about the world, so their worldviews do not heavily influence their perception. However, parents and peers can influence children’s perception. For example, if a child’s classmates are more concerned about climate change, they are more likely to possess these beliefs (Stevenson, Peterson and Bondell, 2019). Children also tend to adopt similar environmental values and attitudes to their parents, but ultimately, the largest factor predicting children’s risk perception is their personal acceptance of climate change. This is important since higher risk perception typically leads to higher likelihood of engaging in pro-environmental behaviours (Mead et al., 2012).

Climate Concern and Engagement

Climate concern and engagement is a result of many factors, including the Construal Level Theory and psychological distance which classifies climate change as a psychologically distant phenomenon due to its abstract nature (Ejelöv et al., 2018). This makes it difficult for children to grasp its consequences, which lowers their motivation and likelihood of engaging in pro-environmental behaviour. It can also lower their risk perception, as it would be difficult to develop a higher level of climate change knowledge. All together, this reduces the likelihood of engaging in proactive behaviour.

Construal Level Theory: A psychological concept that relates psychological distance to individual perception; an object that is psychologically distant will be perceived in more abstract terms (Ejelöv et al., 2018).

Psychological Distance: The extent to which an object is removed from an individual on the dimensions of space, time, social similarity, and hypotheticality (Gubler, Brügger and Eyer, 2019).

Impacts on Children’s Mental Health

Climate change can affect children’s mental health and wellbeing in different ways. For one, the greater frequency and intensity of extreme weather events have been associated with a higher risk of children developing stress and trauma-related disorders (Burke, Sanson and Van Hoorn, 2018). Climate-change-related environmental changes have also been linked to increased psychosocial issues later in life, such as substance abuse disorders, depression, anxiety, and developmental impairments (Brokamp et al., 2019; Gislason, Kennedy and Witham, 2021). The mere perception of climate change as a threat to the environment and humanity can also increase the risk of children experiencing climate-induced distress (Fritze et al., 2008; Comtesse et al., 2021). If these low emotional states are not effectively managed through adaptive coping strategies, they can become maladaptive and result in the development of anxiety disorders which impair functioning (Clayton, 2020; Comtesse et al., 2021).

Climate Induced Distress: Umbrella term for the decline of psychological and emotional wellbeing as a result of perceiving climate change as a risk/ threat. Climate-induced distress can manifest in various forms, such as feelings of worry, numbness, and anxiety (Clayton, 2020; Comtesse et al., 2021).

Coping with Climate Change

Coping is an important cognitive process in mediating climate-induced distress and proactivity. There are three styles of coping that children can employ when dealing with their perception of climate change as a threat, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: The three different coping styles that children can employ in response to climate change stress, with examples of how children may exhibit each coping strategy (Baker and Berenbaum, 2007; Folkman and Moskowitz, 2007; Ojala, 2013; Ojala and Bengtsson, 2019; Clayton, 2020).

Coping Style	Description	Climate Threat Example
Emotion-focused coping	Focuses on managing and reducing negative emotions (e.g., climate-induced distress) evoked by a threat or stressor through denial, de-emphasizing the problem, as well as avoidant and distractive behaviour. Does not promote proactivity and long-term mental and emotional wellbeing.	Denying that climate change is a serious problem Overlooking the scale of the climate crisis Avoiding thinking about climate change Avoiding conversations about climate change; showing disinterest Distracting oneself when stress associated with climate change arises by thinking about something else or engaging in some other activity
Problem-focused coping	Involves directly addressing and managing the underlying problem at hand, rather than focusing its emotional outcomes. Creates a stronger sense of self- and group-efficacy in making a difference which can encourage individual and collective proactivity, as well as positively influencing psychological and emotional wellbeing.	Thinking more about climate change Educating oneself about climate change by engaging with climate-change-related content Learning more about possible solutions that could be implemented on an individual and societal level Engaging in pro-environmental behaviours (e.g., recycling, consuming less red meat, purchasing environmentally-friendly products, talking to family and friends about climate change and what they can do)
Meaning-focused coping	Finding meaning out of a stressful circumstance to guide positive psychological and emotional responses and promote solution-based thinking. The positive emotions—hope, in particular— evoked can act as a buffer which prevents the worsening of climate-induced distress and act as a motivating factor for pro-environmental behaviour and engagement.	Pointing out that climate change knowledge and awareness has grown and will continue to increase Placing trust in societal actors, scientists, and politicians Maintaining hopeful the outcomes of future solutions; having faith in humanity

Meaning-focused coping is thought to be the most constructive response to climate-induced distress; the positive emotions (i.e., hope) promoted can act as emotional shields that make the threat seem more manageable, in turn, fostering problem-focused coping and proactivity (Ojala, 2012; Ojala, 2016; Ojala and Bengtsson, 2019; Clayton, 2020).

Since coping can govern both psychological wellbeing and environmental engagement, it is important to encourage constructive coping strategies through parenting and education, as exemplified in Figure 1. These strategies will allow children to gain a greater sense of self-efficacy and hope; with further research into how children perceive and respond to climate change, the goal of empowering children to engage in pro-environmental behaviour while effectively regulating climate-induced distress could be achieved.

Figure 1: Parenting and educational approaches in promoting psychological and emotional wellbeing as well as pro-environmental behavioural engagement (Mead et al., 2012; Ojala, 2012; Ojala, 2013; Ojala and Bengtsson, 2019; Budziszewska and Jonsson, 2021).

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